Tag Archives: dining

Starting Feb. 1, every restaurant in Mass. will be forced to employ at least one “certified food protection manager.” Among the many duties to be assumed by the state-mandated food cops will be teaching fellow staff about “washing hands with soap and water and not hand sanitizer, and wiping food preparation areas, table tops and highchairs with commercial-strength cleaners.”

The most important task ahead, say proponents of the mandatory food safety initiative, is preventing patrons with food allergies from being poisoned or killed by their meals. The newly enlisted food protection managers will be responsible for personally serving every ‘special needs’ patron while teaching fellow servers and kitchen staff how to avoid contaminating plates with allergens.

“Restaurants are also encouraged to make simpler dishes by avoiding ingredients that hide allergens, like some mollusks and shellfish, barley and rye,” reports Boston’s WCVB-TV. “Currently, federal law does not require ‘minor’ allergens to be clearly listed on food labels.”

Got that? Thanks to the new law, chefs will be “encouraged” to alter their signature recipes that they’ve crafted for the vast majority of patrons who do not have food allergies.

Simply posting warnings on menus about potential food allergens contained in dishes would make too much sense and force those with food allergies to actually pay attention to what they choose to consume. This way, they can not be held responsible for getting sick — it’s the restaurants and chefs who will be blamed and sued for poisoning them. Talk about a ‘Happy Meal’ for trial lawyers!

"Congratulations on one of our final acts of sabotaging democracy and freedom together!"

Here’s something to chew on that you’ll be hard-pressed to find in the State-Run Media’s news buffet: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released “precise” new data last week that “thoroughly refute the misleading claims of alarmists advocating for vastly expanding federal regulation of the food supply.”

The House recently passed its version of the Food Safety bill using exaggerated CDC numbers from 1999 to create the aura of a crisis in Americans’ minds, reports the Heritage Foundation. On Sunday evening, the Senate pushed ahead in turning myths in to reality by agreeing to pass the ‘junk science’ legislation with a voice vote, despite the CDC’s new report released last Wednesday showing significant drops in food-borne illnesses and related deaths.

Just another instance of big government bureaucrats neglecting to take the time to read anything pertinent to the issue at hand before ‘passing the bill‘ and screwing American citizens with needless reforms for the sake of “change.”

Responsible adults in Texas who self-limit their alcohol consumption to 1 drink at restaurants and bars before getting behind the wheel are being targeted by nanny state bureaucrats who say that’s one drink too many. If the proposed offense of “driving with impaired ability” (DWAI) garners enough support, the state will have what is shaping-up to be a zero tolerance policy towards alcohol consumption by responsible drivers.

DWAI would target drivers whose blood-alcohol content is between 0.05 and 0.07, reports the Austin-American Statesman. Currently, motorists are charged with driving while intoxicated (DWI) if they meet or exceed a 0.08 level.

Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said the new DWAI offense, in addition to DWI, “would give prosecutors and judges and juries another tool to use” to implement their agenda that’s endorsed by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). Katherine Prescott, former president of MADD is fond of saying, “[T]here is no safe blood alcohol, and for that reason responsible drinking means no drinking and driving.”

Agree or disagree with Texas bureaucrats wanting a companion to the existing DWI law that stands to target responsible adults who’ve consumed a single drink while enjoying a meal at a restaurant?